The Last Flight

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Claire and Eva both keep significant secrets to protect themselves. Reflect on a time when you felt compelled to hide something important to maintain your stability or security. How did that experience affect your relationships with others?

2. Eva finds unexpected maternal support from Liz, filling a void from her childhood abandonment. Who has served as an unexpected mentor or support figure in your life, and how did that relationship change your path?

3. Claire ultimately finds freedom by confronting her abuser publicly rather than continuing to run. Have you ever faced a situation where confrontation proved more healing than avoidance? What gave you the strength to stand your ground?

4. Throughout the novel, both women must make split-second decisions that dramatically alter their lives. Reflect on a moment when you made a similarly consequential decision with limited time to think or plan. How did that choice affect your life’s direction?

5. The book explores how circumstances and relationships shape identity. When have you felt the need to reinvent yourself or shed aspects of your identity? What prompted this change?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. The Last Flight is dedicated to the women who spoke out during the #MeToo movement. How does the novel reflect the social dynamics that the #MeToo movement has sought to expose and change?

2. The novel portrays how powerful men like Rory Cook are often protected by systems designed to maintain their public image. What contemporary examples of this phenomenon do you see in our culture? How might society begin to dismantle these protective structures?

3. Eva’s story highlights how economic vulnerability and limited options can lead someone with potential into dangerous situations. How does the novel address class inequality? What social systems might have prevented Eva’s tragic path?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. What do mirrors and reflections symbolize throughout the novel? How do moments of self-examination serve as turning points for both Claire and Eva?

2. The glass bluebird given to Eva by Liz is described as “a harbinger of happiness” (171). How does this symbol reflect Eva’s ultimate fate? What other symbolic objects appear throughout the novel?

3. How does Clark use the parallel structure of Claire and Eva’s narratives to emphasize their similarities and differences? What purpose does the time jump between Eva’s backstory and Claire’s present serve?

4. How do technology and the internet function as both tools of surveillance and means of liberation in the novel? How does this dual nature reflect our contemporary relationship with digital technology?

5. The novel repeatedly returns to the theme that “the only way out is through” (213). How does this philosophy compare to the theme of facing difficult truths in Julie Clark’s other novel, The Ones We Choose, where a geneticist must confront family secrets? How do Claire and Eva’s different choices reflect this approach to problems?

6. How does the novel critique the idea of escape as a fantasy? What does Clark suggest about the possibility—or impossibility—of truly starting over with a new identity?